brinkerhoff



t (Model.)

/ J. & W. M. BRINKERHOIEP.

BARBED PBNGE.

No. 258,014. "f Patented May 16, 1882..,

lt/'al @ya f l, UNiTED STATES PATENT EEreE.

BARBED FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming' peutV Of Letters Patent NO; 258,014, dated May 16, 1.882.

Application filed April. 1l, 1882. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern the United States, residing at Auburn, in the county of Cayuga and State `of NewYork, have invented new and useful Improvements in Barbed Fences, of which the following` is a specification.

This invention relates ,to animproved sheetmetalbarb-blank for wire fences, having a solid barbless base portion at one extremity and slit or divided at its remaining end, so as to form two or more barbs, the said barb-blank being adapted to be connected with the fencewire by bending its solid end thereon toward the divided end, as hereinafter described.

The objects pf our invention are to provide a strong and durable blank which can be readily applied and iirrnly secured upon a fencewire, to avoid waste of material in cutting or stamping out the blanks, and to so form the barblblank that it can be clasped upon the wire and its barbs extended from opposite sides of the same without forming a sharp angle in bending the blank upon the wire. These objects we .attain by forming the sheet-metal barb-blanks as illustrated in the accompany ing drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a sheet-metal strip from which the blanks are out, the lines along which the metal is separated to form these blanks with but a triiiing waste of material being indicated in said figure. Fig. 2 shows the barbblank formed as indicated in Fig. 1, but further provided with a rectangular notch at one corner. Fig. 3 illustrates A the blank cut to form the two-pointed barbs, as also illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows the barb-blank applied to a wire fence-rail composed of a sin gle strand, and Fig. 5 shows the sameapplied to a wire fence-rail composed of two strands twisted together. from which barb-blanks formed upon the same principle, but varying in certain details from .those hereinbefore referred to, are cut, the lines of separation being` indicated in-said ligure. Fig. 7 shows the barb-blank slit to form the barbs of unequal length inthe manner indicated in Fig. (i, this blank. however, being made square* at one end. Fig. S shows the `barb-blank formed as indicated in Fig. 6. Fig.

Fig. 6 represents a sheet-metal strip w 9 shows this form of barb-blank applied to a wire fence-rail composed of a single strand. Fig. l0 illustrates the same applied to a wire fence-rail Athat is composed of two strands twisted together. Fig. 1l illustrates theblank bent to clasp a wire rail and having its two barbs bent in opposite directions.

In order to form our improved barb-blanks in a simple, economical, and ready manner, and with the least possible waste of material, we shear or cut the blanks by means of suitable dies from a sheet-metal strip, A, which 1s equal in width to the combined width of the two barbs. As illustrated in Fig. 1 this sheetmetal strip is cut along the lines l 1 so as to divide it into oblong rectangular sections, each one of which is slitcentrally and from one end along a portion ot' its length in order to form the two barbs or arms-B B at one end, and leave a solid barbless extremity or base porf tion, C, at the remaining end or Vextremity-ot the blank. These arms or barbs are pointed, as illustrated, and, it' preferred, they could be cut to form their pointed ends after the blank has been slit and severed from the sheet-metal strip; but the 'simplest mode will be to s lit, point, sever, and attach the blank Ato fencing material in one operation. It will be seen that the only metal wasted in forming this blank will be the small portions cut from the ends of the barb in order to point them, and hence that lthey can be cheaply made. By slitting or dividing the blank for a portion of its length into two parts, which constitute the barbs, the latter will be strong and Y eifective, although produced from a comparatively narrow strip,

since, as has been observed, the entire width of the strip is utilized in forming the two barbs. The blank shown in Figs. l and 3 is squared at its Aunslitted end, and a wide substantial base or body thereby aiiorded for embracing the wire rail.

The iiat double-barbed finished blank which is shown in Fig. 3 comprises a base'or body portion, with a pair of pointed barbs or ngers lying side by side, and extending from one and the same end ofthe said base or body, and is ready to be applied to the single or double Wire fence-rail, as illustrated in Figs. et and 5. As shown in said gures, the wire rail is em- SoA IOO

braced by the solid base port-ion of the barb- Y by bending it thereon toward its divided end;

also, one of the barbs is bent over and around the squared end of the base portion of the blank, so as to cause this barb to project from the wire rail in a direction opposite to that in which the remaining barb projects. In this way, while one of the barbs is bent for a portion of its length, the remaining barb will remain unbent, or, if bent at all, a slight bend will occur only atits junction with the base portion of the barb-blank, the double-armed barbblank being held and eftectivelysecnred upon the wire rail by its broad nnslitted base portion,which is bent, as specified. In applying this doubleearmed barbblank to a wire fencerail composed of two or more strands the blank is applied to but one strand in the same way in which it is applied to the single main wire shown in Fig. .4, the remaining strand simply crossing and lying against the double-armed barbed. blank, as illustrated in Fig. 5.

In the two-armed barb-blank shown in Fig. 8 the blank is slitted or divided from one end along a portion of its length, as before described,'so as to provide two` arms or barbs, B, located side by side, and extending fromfone and the same end of the base or body portion (l of the blank. These blanks are cut from a sheet-metal strip, which, as indicated in Fig. 6, is equal inwidth to the combined width of the two barbs. In this figure the lines 2 2 and 3 indicate the points at which the metal strip is separated into sections, the remaining lines upon the strip indicating the points at which itis cut to form the pointed barbs. The'blanks might be first cut from the metal strip with blunt barbs, and the barbs then pointed as in Fig. 8, although the entire cutting will be pret'- erably performed in one operation.

Referring back to the barb-blank shown in Fig. 3, it will be seen that thetwo barbs are of equal length, and hence that when the base portion of the blank is bent around the main line wire and a portion of oneof the barbs bent over said base this bent barb will not project out from the wire to the same extent as the remaining unbent barb, since a portion of the length of the first-mentioned barb is taken up by its bend. Now, in the barb-blank shownin Fig. Swe form the two barbs of unequal length, so that one will extend farther out from the base than the other. Hence in bending the barbless extremity or base portion of the barb-blank around the wire, and then bending the longer barb in the same way and for the same purpose for which the barb shown in Fig. et is bent, the extra length of said longer barb will compensate for the deficiency found in the barb-blank having its barbs ot' equal length, and the two barbs will therefore project out from the wire to the same extent.

\ In forming the barb-blank as shown in Figs. 6 and 8, instead of making a straight cut transversely across the metal strip, so as to Sever the blanks therefrom and give a squared end to the base portion of the blank, as in Fig. 3, we make one out (indicated by line 3) centrally through the strip and in continuation of the cut which divides a portion of the blank into the two arms or barbs, and we also make the two transverse cuts 2 2, running at right angles to the central longitudinal cut 3, and meeting the same at different points. These two transverse cuts, which, in conjunction with the longitudinal cut, sever the strip into appropriate lengths for the barbs, also serve both to give the ultimate shape to the end of the base portion of one blank and to determine the lengths of the barbs of the next adjacent blank, the outer terminals of said barbs being formed at those points in the metal strip where the said transverse cuts 2 2 occur.

It will be seen that while a part of the metal of the base portion of the blank is removed at one corner thereof, so as to form in the finished blank the rectangular notch D shown in Fig. 8, said removed portion is not wasted, but is utilized to form the pointed end of the longer barb of the next blank. Hence in cutting out the barb-blanks as indicated in Figs. land 6 the only metal not utilized is that which is necessarily removed so as to form the pointed ends of the barbs. y,It will also be seen that no more of the metal is' lost in one instance than in the other, and that the loss in either will be very Slight.

In applying the barb-blank shown in Fig. 8 to a single wire the base portion C of the blank is bent around the wire as before, and the longer barb is also bent so as to embrace that portion of wire whichis exposed by reason of the notch that has been formed in the base of the blank. By thus bending the longer barb it will be brought to project from the wireat the side opposite to that from which the shorter unbent barb projects. The two barbs will alsoproject tothe same extent from the wire, the extra length of the longer barbbeing taken up by its bent portion, which is brought in direct contact with the wire. In applying this double- IOO IIO

armed barb-blank to a wire fence-rail composed of two wires the blank is applied in the same way as that just described, while the remaining wire simply crosses and lies against the barb-blank, as seenv in both Figs. 5 and 10.

In Fig. 1l we have shown the barbs projecting in opposite directions from the base of the cut, wherebya barb-blank formed, as shown in Fig. 3, with its two barbs of equal length can be applied to a wire and one or both of its barbs bent, so that, while they will project in opposite directions, they will each project to the same extent from the wire. When this barb is used in connection with a double-wire fence-rail it will be secured upon one wire, while the remaining wire crosses the bent barb at 'or about the base of the cut which separates the barbs from each other. The barb-blank might b/e formed asin Fig. 2, in which instance the barbs are of equal length, and the base and, again, the barb-blank might be formed as shown in Fig. 7, in which case the barbs are of unequal length, while the base portion is not provided with the notch indicated in Figs. 6 and S.

In applying the blank shown in Fig. 2 one of the barbs will be brought in direct contact with the wire, while in applying the barb- .blank shown in Fig. 7 the longer barb will be bent over the base portion, as in Fig. 4, the two barbs, however, `in this latter instance being projected from the wire to the same extent.

What we claim is-' l In combination with a fen cc-wire of the class 

